1. The Roots of Jazz

2. The Birth of Jazz
-The roots of jazz in and around New Orleans extend back into the second half of the 19th century (maybe even earlier).
-Brass bands, made up of African Americans, played there during the War of 1812.
-these bands did not always follow the correct rhythms.
-direct ancestors of jazz along with spirituals and blues.
-used classical instruments, but in unique ways

3. What is Jazz?
-In the beginning, jazz was referred to as “novelty” or “minstrel” music.
-the word jazz did not appear until 1917.
-jazz – a musical form distinguished by its reliance on improvisation and its rhythmic urgency.
-The skill and inventiveness of individual performers is key to the music.
-soloists improvise melodies rhythmically by shifting accents to weak beats (syncopation).
-The rhythm of jazz is polyrhythmic.
-polyrhythmic – juxtaposing two or more different rhythms.

4. -An early style of jazz piano playing.
“Stride” Piano
-An early style of jazz piano playing.
-Often used by Eubie Blake, James P. Johnston, and Earl Hines.
-built on a steady, oom-pa, timekeeping left-hand bass.
-Against the steady left hand rhythm, the right hand shifts the accents as it embellished the tune.
-A good stride pianist could imitate an entire band.
Erroll Gardner

5. -Influenced future generations of pianists: -Thomas “Fats” Waller
-The early ragtime and stride pianists were influential in carving out an important place for the piano in jazz.
-Influenced future generations of pianists:
-Thomas “Fats” Waller
-Art Tatum
-Thelonious Monk
Thomas “Fats” Waller Art Tatum Thelonious Monk

6. The Mississippi Connection
-In the early decades of the 20th century, musicians headed north from New Orleans up the Mississippi, seeking work in Memphis and St. Louis.
-During the Roaring Twenties – also known as the Jazz Age – teens shocked their parents by dancing the Charleston.
-This was also the decade the 19th Amendment was passed:
-gave women the right to vote
-The new jazz sound of this era drew a wider audience.
-This music began attracting non-African American musicians.
-Predominant style of music was New Orleans Dixieland jazz
-bands were small with little duplication of instruments.

7. -Distinguishing features of Dixieland jazz:
-march-like feeling
-reliance on duple (2) meter
-featured “front line” of instruments – trumpet, clarinet, and trombone
-these instruments were usually at the front-line position in New Orleans style marching band
-often included banjos and mandolins
-melody or lead line usually stands out while others are intentionally less obvious.

8. -this form derived from spirituals and works songs.
-The art of jazz usually involves embellishing the melody of an existing song.
-Dixieland jazz bands favored the technique of short “riffs” in a call and response format.
-this form derived from spirituals and works songs.
-Also used scat singing for improvisations where words usually would be.
-Scat singing – a form of vocal improvisation on nonsense syllables (such as doo wah or doo wee)
-The song “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In” invited this type of improvisation so well that it quickly became a jazz staple.
Preservation Hall Jazz band – “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In”

9. Louis Armstrong
-musical prodigy whose talent enabled him to take the trumpet to new heights of musical expression.
-His playing was unique, featuring a warm vibrato and an easy full bodied tone through out the range of the instrument.
-his mastery influenced countless other musicians, setting a standard for solo jazz artistry.

10. -This was a trait that many jazz singers later adopted.
-Vocally, Armstrong complemented his instrumental improvisations with scat singing.
-This was a trait that many jazz singers later adopted.
-He would sing a chorus straight, then follow it with an improvised scat chorus
-His song stylings were admired and imitated widely for his best selling versions of “Hello Dolly!” and “What a Wonderful World”
Hello Dolly
What a Wonderful World

11. -The combination of his trumpet genius and his gravelly voiced singing made Armstrong one of the 20th century’s most memorable performers.
-As a result of his work on Broadway and radio, and in films and recordings, nearly everyone admired “Satchmo”
-He got the nickname, short for “satchel mouth”, because his mouth was unusually large – like an opened-satchel.

12. Sectional Organization
-During the 1920’s, jazz evolved into a sectional form with the full ensemble alternating the solo sections.
-If the composition was built on the blues, it typically segmented into 12 or 16 bar sections (remember the 12 bar blues…)
-Many of the tunes that were created maintained a basic 32-bar length.
-when an instrument would improvise on a chorus, it would usually last 32 bars.
-occasionally it included a two bar break just before the 32 section began.
-These short beaks were brief improvisations by a jazz instrumentalist or singer that were inserted between ensemble passages.
-Being able to distinguish these breaks allows the listener to anticipate the beginning of a new 32-bar section.

13. -Lil Hardin was the pianist in the Hot Seven band
-”Hotter Than That” (1927) provides a good example of the new style “hot” jazz with sectional organization.
-Performed by Louis Armstrong, composed by Lil Hardin (Armstrong’s wife). Goals…
-Lil Hardin was the pianist in the Hot Seven band
-one of the few females working in the jazz world in that time.
-Performances of “Hotter Than That” throughout are improvisational within the format of a fairly strict sectional structure.
“Hotter Than That”

14. Chicago and the Emergence of Swing
-By the time it reached Chicago, jazz had evolved.
-The traditional New Orleans Dixieland style remained, but Swing had emerged.
-Swing - refers to the special rhythmic character that jazz musicians add to the music.
-In effect, this means changing an even duple division of each beat into a loosely skipping, swinging triple feeling.
Swing became a label for the style as well as an era ( ) of jazz history.
Throughout this period, swing music was the rage among teens and young adults.

15. -Fletcher Henderson (1897-1952) played a pivotal role in the development of the swinging jazz band.
-He was a pioneering bandleader, composer, and arranger.
-During the 1930s, other bands adopted his style as well as their model.
-Although the music could not yet be considered fully developed swing, the roots were certainly there.
-Henderson enlarged the band and established the instrumentation that became standard.
There were three sections:
-A brass section consisting of three trumpets and two trombones (later three trombones).
-A reed section consisting of three or four Saxes (these players could double on clarinets).
-A rhythm section consisting of drums, piano, guitar, and double bass.

16. -There was an emphasis on solo playing underscored by arranged accompaniments.
-Henderson’s arrangements used a call-and-response form in which each player “took” then “traded” a four-bar solo with another band member.
-This phenomenon, called trading fours, became a trademark of swing bands.
Sugarfoot Stomp – Fletcher Henderson